JACKS ARE WILD
England shuffle and Will’s come up trumps to say: I’m ready for World if needed!
WILL JACKS was left with a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth after missing out on an England hundred.
But the Surrey star gave a demonstration of his outstanding potential against Ireland.
Jacks smashed 94 then holed out going for a six, as England overcame their rivals by 48 runs with teenage spinner Rehan Ahmed (above) grabbing four wickets at Trent Bridge.
Ahmed, 19, produced a magical spell of 4-54 to help dismiss the Irish for 286 as England’s experimental side claimed the second ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Jacks insisted: “I was happy with the way I went about it. I’d be more upset had I just pushed it around and got out.
“I will think about those six runs I was short of a hundred – but I will be thinking more about the 94 I got.
“The World Cup squad has been selected, and if anything comes up before then I have to keep scoring runs to make sure I will be ready.”
Warwickshire’s Sam Hain fired 89. He and Jacks helped reach 334-8 off 50 overs after being put into bat by Ireland skipper Paul Stirling – and then Ahmed took charge with the ball in the early Autumn sunshine in Nottingham.
He did so after fast bowler George Scrimshaw – one of four debutants in an England team minus all its World Cup stars – had a nightmare start to endure.
Poor Scrimshaw became the first Englishman to bowl FOUR noballs in his first over in ODIS.
That over went for 17 runs, and he followed up with two more no-balls in his next.
But the 6ft-7in Derbyshire star showed character in returning to grab the wickets of Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker and Josh Little, and take 3-66.
Durham seamster Matthew Potts had no such hiccups with his run-up, dismissing Stirling and then Curtis Campher. Ahmed got in the groove to capture three wickets and rip the heart out of the Irish batting. He had Harry Tector caught superbly for 39 by Jacks before bowling Andy Mcbrine and trapping Mark Adair lbw for four. George Dockrell, Ireland’s top scorer with 43, was his fourth victim, caught by Phil Salt. Young and Josh Little acted out a defiant last-wicket stand, crashing the ball around before Scrimshaw took his third wicket to complete the win. England had threatened a huge total when Jacks and Salt burst out the blocks and smashed 52 runs from the first five overs.
Ireland applied the brakes with pace man Craig Young removing Salt and then Zac Crawley lbw for a second-ball duck.
Local favourite Ben Duckett fell two runs short of a fifty. Irish spinner Dockrell, who took 3-43, also snared Jacks when the batsman tried to reach three figures in maximum style.
Instead, he holed out to Mcbrine on the boundary, having hit four sixes and seven fours.
England’s knock fizzled out, but 334 still proved too stiff a challenge. Ireland’s Craig Young said: “Too many batters got starts without getting a fifty and we needed a better platform.”